A friend and I were scheduled to go to dinner soon to one of my new “fav” restaurants. As excited as I was, I was even more disappointed when I noticed that my account didn’t match my appetite. Some bills and business needed tending to more urgently than my desire for pecan pie in a glass.

Upon acceptance of the temporary state of my checkbook I was torn as to whether or not to tell her the reason for the cancellation. Why did telling her the real reason matter so much to me? Sure, I could have said I was busy. I typically am these months of the year. Sure, I could have said something came up at work or with family. Often it does. Sure I could have just asked to reschedule with no explanation, but I also could have pushed pride aside and opted for the good, old-fashioned truth (and wondered why I cared in the first place that my funds haven’t yet gotten the “I’m wealthy” memo that’s certainly on the way.)

Caught between a rock and without that succulent, roasted breast of turkey, I made the bold move to simply ask that we reschedule and tell her why. So I told her. Then she told me…the exact same thing! With an “LOL” here and an “LOL” there, we both acknowledged that our funds had been rerouted from the restaurant to some other more pressing matters and agreed that next week would be the week where we giggled, chatted and chewed it up without concerns of the “money monkey” on our backs.

So again, I wondered. Why did it bother me to own where I was, even if I didn’t like it, or know it wouldn’t last? I will say, that, for me, growth has taken place. The old/old me would have gone anyway, and tried to wiggle some things around that had no business being wiggled. The old/new me might have actually had the funds go to because circumstances were much different. The new/old me might have come up with a reason other than the real reason, as if I’m not allowed to use financial sense concerning my dollars and cents, but the new/new me simply “kept it real” and waited on a response of either “let’s reschedule” or “I gotcha covered”, which we’ve both been known to do. The seasons have changed.

Whew! Oh what a relief it is to be able to be transparent and honest and humbled, knowing that just because things are one way they don’t have to stay that way, but one way to be certain that they do stay that way is to keep doing things the same way. So I did it differently. I saved money. Had a brief laugh with my friend and at myself and mustered up something to look forward to next week as I enjoy some tasty food that I can actually afford!

@AngelaMMoore316